“Don’t forget the kid part,” Gage tacked on. At any other time, Dominic knew that Gage would be scanning through the security feeds without paying the conversation around him much attention. He seemed to tune into his surroundings only when he could spill the beans on either Dominic or Mac. Lately it seemed to be Dominic’s life that provided all of the office entertainment. He hoped like hell at some point in the future the other man had a serious relationship because Dominic planned to rain hell down upon him.
Mac’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head at this new piece of information. “Kid? Man, I’ve only been gone a week,” he reiterated. “Even you, Dom, couldn’t have had a kid that fast.”
Dominic grimaced as he shook his head. “No, I haven’t and I’m dearly regretting unloading on the mouth-of-the-South over there in a moment of weakness. I swear you two had better never mention that you know any of this to Gwen.”
“No danger of that,” Gage huffed. “I only got the highlight reel. You wouldn’t answer any of my important questions.”
“No one answers the questions you ask, brother, because they always involve some part of our woman’s body or if she’s a screamer,” Mac added dryly.
“We had a condom mishap,” Dominic finally answered Mac’s original question. “I don’t think we need to be worried about a pregnancy, but I can’t be certain. If it does, then I’m one hundred percent in.”
“And if she isn’t pregnant? Then what?” Mac asked as he studied him.
“It doesn’t make a difference to me,” Dominic answered honestly. “I don’t think it would be the best way to start a family, and I’d like to wait and let things take a more traditional route, but either way, I want Gwen in my life. I told you after you broke up with her how I felt, and now that we’re seeing each other, my feelings have only grown stronger. It’s crazy, I know, but she’s it for me, man. I knew it in my gut from the first moment I saw her. I screwed around dealing with a case of denial, but that’s over now.”
“I’m happy for you, bro,” Gage said sincerely, surprising both Dominic and Mac. “I think we’ve all grown tired of finding a stranger in our bed the next morning.”
“Since when have you ever let anyone stay the night?” Mac snorted.
Gage tossed a pen at Mac’s head, laughing when he hit his mark. “Listen fucker, I was just trying to be supportive and not call both of you a bunch of whipped pansies.” Then in a perfect feminine voice, he sang out, “Boohoo, I love you honey. Do you love me? Can you hold me while I cry? I’m feeling so sensitive today, and I just want to share all of my thoughts with you. Baby, I bought us matching Christmas sweaters to wear and my gift-wrapped balls are under the tree for you.”
Dominic tried to keep it together, but the laughter exploded from him. He laughed until tears were welling in his eyes. He could hear Mac’s booming voice as he succumbed to Gage’s obnoxious brand of humor as well. “There’s something wrong with you, man,” Dominic managed to gasp out as he tried to catch a breath.
“I hate to even ask what’s so funny.” They all swiveled quickly to find an amused Ava holding a coffee tray and shaking her head.
Mac jumped to his feet, almost tripping in his haste to reach her. Yeah, Gage had one thing right—Mac was whipped and didn’t care who knew it. “Hey, baby,” he said as he took the tray from his wife. When the coffee was safely on the desk, Mac pulled her into his arms and dropped a kiss on her smiling mouth.
Dominic had really grown fond of Ava when he had helped in her quest to win Mac from Gwen. Yeah, it sounded like a total asshole move now, but they’d both been desperate at that point. He’d always thought that Ava was an unfeeling ice queen who had put his friend through years of hell, but he soon found out that he was wrong. In reality, she was so damaged by her past that she’d been afraid to admit that she loved Mac as much as he loved her.
The collateral damage, when the dust settled, had been Gwen. Dominic knew at some point if things continued to move forward with Gwen, that he needed to admit his role in Ava’s pursuit of Mac to her. He didn’t want to begin a relationship with secrets between them. Gwen had assured him that she hadn’t loved Mac, but he knew that she had been hurt in the crossfire and that made him sick.
“So, what was so funny?” Ava asked, looking at Mac indulgently.
“Just Gage and his usual insults.” Mac rolled his eyes.
Ava pulled away from Mac to distribute the coffee that she had brought for them. Dominic looked at his watch and stood. Gwen should be in her office by now. Seeing Mac and Ava so affectionate and happy made him want to steal a moment before the day began to see his woman. Without thinking, he started toward the door throwing over his shoulder, “I’m going to take Gwen some coffee. I’ll be back in a few.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he cringed. A look at Ava showed her staring at him in surprise before giving Mac a questioning look.
“Go ahead, bro.” Mac waved him on. “I’ll fill her in.” Dominic gave his friend a grateful look before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. He was too close to Mac and now Ava to keep his relationship with Gwen a secret from either of them. He knew it might take some adjustment on all of their parts, but they needed to accept that Gwen was in his life now, and if he had anything at all to say about it, she was here to stay.
* * *
It had been a hectic morning as was typical for the end of the month. For the most part, all the divisions of Danvers ran like a well-oiled machine, but that didn’t mean there were no problems to address. Gwen had been so busy analyzing budgets for purchasing that she had been ignoring the growling of her stomach for the last hour.
When a knock sounded at her door, she figured it was either Crystal or Mia wanting to go to lunch—or if she was lucky, Dominic. She almost fell out of her chair in shock when she looked up to see Ava standing uncertainly in her doorway. Tension sat heavily in the small space as they stared at each other. Finally, Ava broke the silence by saying softly, “Hi, Gwen. I . . . er . . . know I’m probably the last person you were expecting, but I wanted to see if you would have lunch with me?”
Gwen moved from shock to completely flabbergasted at Ava’s invitation. What in the hell is her game? Wasn’t this a bit like kicking someone’s dog after you’d already run over it, and then backed over it for good measure? Expelling a breath that sounded as loud as a bomb in the quiet room, Gwen said, “I have no idea why you would want to do that.”
“I think we should talk,” Ava replied, looking extremely uncomfortable. Gwen felt a perverse sense of pleasure that the usually poised Ava Stone seemed ill at ease. She always felt frumpy compared to the other woman and this was like a small, although petty, victory for her.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Gwen doodled on her desk pad as she said, “I don’t see what we would need to talk about. We’ve never been friends or even acquaintances so there’s not really anything to say.”
Ava took a few steps into the room until she was in front of her desk. Gwen was surprised to see her hands trembling as she clasped them together. “Please, Gwen. I realize that you don’t owe me anything and that you probably hate me, but I would like a chance to clear the air with you. Dominic and Mac are best friends, and I don’t want anything to change that. I owe you an apology and an explanation, and I hope that you’ll give me the opportunity to do both. Please . . .”
Gwen studied the other woman for a moment before getting slowly to her feet and pulling her purse from her desk drawer. She had no idea why she was agreeing to this. Maybe, at the very least, she was curious as to what had happened to end her relationship with Mac so abruptly. She had told Dominic that she didn’t love Mac and that was true, but Ava was offering her something that she’d never had in past relationships—an explanation. A reason why things had ended. “Okay, how about the sandwich shop around the corner?”